This morning Egyptair sent me two messages via Twitter regarding this omission. The first Tweet from @FlyEgyptair reads:

we do not fly to Israel, where on the map on our website we place only the names of the destinations we fly to.

I responded to Egyptair with the following replies:

So Egyptair does not wholly own Air Sinai, operated only by Egyptair aircraft & crew, serving CAI-TLV?

Also, both CAI & TLV show regularly scheduled service by Egyptair, under the name Air Sinai (4D) & your aircraft is seen in TLV

The response from Egyptair was the following:

Yes, but the map on our website exclusively show destinations to which our own EA flights travel to.

Here is where Egyptair’s stance on the removal of Israel’s Tel Aviv from its route map gets tricky.

On a technicality, Egyptair does not technically fly to Tel Aviv under its own name. Flights on Egyptair between Cairo-Tel Aviv are exclusively flown under the airline name of “Air Sinai,” although Air Sinai is wholly owned by Egyptair and was established by the airline in 1982 for the exclusive purpose of flying between Cairo and Tel Aviv. While Egyptair’s IATA code is “MS,” Air Sinai has its own IATA code of “4D.” Egyptair flights, operated by Air Sinai even use the radio call sign of “Air Sinai” instead of “Egyptair.”

Despite the technicalities, Air Sinai is Egyptair. Not only does Egyptair wholly own Air Sinai, but Air Sinai does not have its own staff, its own offices or its own aircraft. All flights are operated by Egyptair staff, on Egyptair aircraft. Flights on Air Sinai are called out as Egyptair flights over the public address system in the airport … and passengers can only purchase flights on Air Sinai through Egyptair.

Egyptair has gone so far as to remove the option to book flights between Cairo and Tel Aviv from their website, all while flying regularly scheduled flights between the cities. The removal of these flights from online booking, even from the local Egyptian website, makes far less sense than the removal of Tel Aviv from the route map. Airlines fly routes to make money and any airline omitting a specific destination they serve is doing a disservice to their company, their brand, their passengers and their financial bottom line. If an airline serves a route it should seek to let it be known, not hide it, so that can capitalize on the potential in service the route.

Making a flight operated on a regular schedule challenging to find and even more challenging to book pushes customers to other airlines. Egyptair’s competitor on the route, Israel’s El Al, makes it quite easy to find Cairo on their route map and book flights to Cairo directly from their website.

Airlines have long been used as political tools … but in the case of Egyptair hiding its Cairo – Tel Aviv service, everyone loses.

Your comment makes absolutely no sense in regard to the post you are commenting on, additionally your comment has significant inaccuracies.

For starters, KLM Asia was set up and registered in Taiwan, in 1995, in order to be able to operate flights from Taipei. KLM needed to establish KLM Asia, as did other airlines in establishing similar ventures, so they could get around the politics of operating in both Taiwan (the Republic of China) and Mainland China (the Peoples Republic of China) .

Secondly, El Al’s was not called out for operating on Sundays, as Sunday is not the Sabbath for the Jewish people. El Al’s Sun d’Or had its operating licenses revoked (Effective April 1) because it was not sufficiently separated from its parent company El Al, often using El Al aircraft and crew, and not meeting Israeli management standards. Sun d’Or was established by El Al originally as a charter service operating in certain European markets, that also operated on The Sabbath (sundown Friday to Sundown Saturday). The operating of Sun d’Ore on the Sabbath didn’t play into the loss of their operating license, but it puts El Al in a precarious position within Israel. I wrote about this here – http://bit.ly/hXnQnd , you should read it.

As for airlines from Muslim nations omitting Tel Aviv from their route maps … Egyptair is the only one omitting cities it serves. Look at the route maps of Royal Jordanian and Turkish Airlines.

Air Sinai is one of the best kept secrets of the region. I know of it is because I was working in the region at the time it was created. Royal Jordanian has Tel Aviv listed on their route network and have not lost passengers because of that. I think the new omission is due to the latest events in Egypt which culminated in a regime change and a possible new sentiment towards the peace treaty with Israel.

What shocks me more than Egyptair removing Tel Aviv from their route map is the removal from the online booking options on their website. In order to book a flight you must now visit an Egyptair office or call them.

I doubt serving Tel Aviv is costing Royal Jordanian or Turkish Airlines any passengers … much like El Al flying to Cairo probably isn’t cost them passengers.

About Me

Fish has been covering aviation and transportation security issues since September 15, 2001, after walking away from Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan following four days of documenting the worst aviation security disaster in history.

Having spent more than a decade-and-a-half as a full-time photojournalist, Fish now divides his time between building social media and social commerce strategies and solutions for global travel brands, along with researching aviation and transportation security.

Growing up at the end up New York's JFK International Airport's Runway 4R/22L probably explains Fish’s enjoyment of watching planes fly overhead. When not working or shooting photos, Fish can be found playing with (and cleaning up after) his three kids, chasing his dogs, standing in the kitchen cooking, monitoring radios public safety and federal radios and of course cheering for the Red Sox.

You can find Fish on Twitter at @flyingwithfish …and … join Fish every Thursday at 3:30pm EST as he hosts the weekly #TNI #Travel Chat on Twitter.